In the manufacture of foods such as ice cream, it has become increasingly more popular to include chunks or kibbles of another foodstuff into the ice cream. For example, a popular ice cream is called "Cookies and Cream". This ice cream is produced by incorporating pieces of the well-known cookie, which is a sandwich of two cookies with a cream center into the final product. Individual chunks of the cookies are dispersed throughout the ice cream matrix. Other foodstuffs, such as chocolate cups containing peanutbutter, candy pieces and the like, have been used in the production of ice cream.
A problem arises in producing chunks or kibbles of soft and/or meltable foodstuffs by using conventional food grinders. A conventional food grinder of the type employing the cutter and comb principle such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,215 and 4,753,395, which produce the chunks or kibbles by a shearing action, can result in the loss in identity of the foodstuff and the resulting product is of poor quality. For example, the product can be turned to the consistency of mush. In grinding or kibbling of fruits, the fruit can be significantly damaged creating an undesirable product. When chunking or kibbling meltable products, such as product-based confections, the heat generated during the grinding process results in broken product that melts to form a glutinous mass which sticks to the cutting teeth of the chunking or grinding device.
Powered tooth and comb cutting or grinding devices have been used in various applications as illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,669,271; 2,853,247; 3,151,814 and 4,801,101.